Super Bowl Ratings: Most-Watched In History

NBC was the beneficiary of a massive ratings bump when the Sunday nationals came in from Nielsen Tuesday. The result: Super Bowl 43 was the most-watched Super Bowl in history, barely topping last year’s installment on Fox.

The game had an average of 98.7 million viewers, topping last year’s average of 97.5 million.The game was also the second most-watched television program in U.S. history, behind only the M*A*S*H series finale in 1983.

The post-Super Bowl edition of The Office drew a 10.6 rating in the key 18-49 demo and 22 million total viewers, both series highs. Those numbers are down from last year’s post-game edition of medical drama House on Fox. That episode drew over 27 million total viewers.

The new Office was also the third-highest entertainment program of the season, behind only the first two episodes of this season’s American idol.

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